HORSESHOE BEACH….A LITTLE FISHING VILLAGE BY THE SEA WHERE TIME MOVES SLOWLY

EARLY MORN ON THE SUWANNEE RIVER

Early Thursday evening the other Class A RV here rolled out and first thing this morning the horse trailer fellas left and left us the only ones here.  Oh how sweet it is:))

ALL PHOTOS I TAKE OF KELLY ARE CANDID AND RARELY POSED…MOST TIMES SHE HAS NO IDEA I TOOK THE PHOTO UNTIL NEXT MORNING IF SHE HAPPENS TO READ THE BLOG

TWISTED CYRESS TREE ROOTS

BOAT DOCK HERE AT GORNTO COMMUNITY PARK

LOVE THE GNARLY TWISTED SHAPES OF THESE OLD CYPRESS TREES BY THE WATER’S EDGE

 Had us a nice early morning walk around the banks of the Suwannee River alongside our County Park here.  How nice to only hear the sweet sounds of our little feathered friends in the tree tops.  Saw a small styrofoam box sitting on a picnic table where the horse trailer had just been and when I opened it I could see it was a batch of worms normally used as fish bait.  I’m happy to say I was able to carry those little worm fellers over to some soft earth under an old stump and set them free.  Wished them well and I’m sure I saw one little guy give me a tail wiggle.

Thursday night we were leaning towards heading out this morning but this morning I think we decided to stay one more night.  It is quite the rock solid travel planners we are eh.  We are probably naïve in thinking Florida traffic this time of year might be a little lighter on a Saturday morning.  Silly us.

THIS IS THE SITE VACATED BY THE HORSE TRAILER AND IF WE HAD STAYED LONGER WE WOULD HAVE MOVED THE RIG OVER HERE RIGHT BESIDE THE RIVER

THEY HAVE SOME NICE NEW PICNIC TABLES HERE

It was shortly after 9 when we all piled into the Jeep and headed south in the direction of Old Town.  Our destination was a place called Horseshoe Beach I had earlier spotted on the map.  (You really oughta check the link to know what’s here)  Turning right in Old Town on 98 we headed to a place called Crosstown and there picked up highway 351 to the Gulf.  I had also noticed on the map there were no communities on the way and it looked like there wouldn’t be the usual mass of people at the beach end of the road.  And boy oh boy was I ever right about that.

OUR FIRST STOP ALONG HORSESHOE BEACH

WE ARRIVED DURING LOW TIDE

What a charming little piece of old Florida we found at the end of the road this morning.  Horseshoe Beach still retains it’s small fishing village feel despite some million dollar homes built up along the shore in the village itself.  A small narrow harbor with channels branching out and a few shrimp boats tied up.  If there were any vehicles in town we sure didn’t see many of them.  Several times on the main street I was able to stop for photos and even back up a couple times without worrying about traffic.  There just was no traffic.  Of course we took an immediate liking to this sleepy little villa on the Gulf and it’s the kind of place one could blend in seamlessly with the locals.  I thought any time I might see Ernest Hemmingway come shuffling around the corner with his smouldering pipe in tow.

ALL NEWER HOMES ARE BUILT ON THESE TALL PILLARS DUE TO HIGH WATER LEVEL SURGES DURING HURRICANES

MOST OF THESE HIGH PILLARED HOUSES ARE ABOUT A HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE WATER’S EDGE BUT SOME ARE EVEN CLOSER TO THE WATER LIKE THE ONE BELOW

THIS HOME RIGHT AT THE WATER’S EDGE IS BUILT IN THE SHAPE OF AN OLD SAILING VESSEL

Met a nice older fella near the harbor when he recognized our Ontario license plates.  He’s been many years wandering the North American continent and was familiar with Manatoulin Island, Bayfield, Goderich, Owen Sound, etc.  He travels north in an old work van for the cooler summers and lives on a houseboat on the Suwannee River south of Branston Florida.  He paints signs and murals for a living and that is what he was doing in Horseshoe Beach today.  Really nice friendly fella.

I’M GUESSING THESE MIGHT BE SHRIMP BOATS

From Horseshoe Beach we backtracked on 351 a bit then slipped down to Shire Island a little further south to check out another County Park we had heard about it.  Found it but it wasn’t our kind of spot.  There were maybe half a dozen RV’s parked close together right on the beach.  We see a lot of something here in Florida that we never saw in the Southwest and that is fisherman.  I think about every 5th person we see has a fishing pole over their shoulder.  Got something to do with all the water around here I guess.  And I was totally amazed at the lack of traffic on highway 351 south of 98.  Between Horseshoe Beach and Shired Island we spent about an hour driving maybe 50 miles and in all that time and distance we only encountered about a dozen vehicles if that.

IT WAS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT TOPOGRAPHY OVER HERE AT SHIRED ISLAND

VERY FLAT AND MARSHY AND IT IS HERE WHERE THE VERY NOISY AIR BOATS COME TO PLAY

‘WOW’ ARE THESE THINGS EVER NOISY

THEY ARE POWERED BY AIRCRAFT ENGINES AND SOUNDED LIKE HARVARD/TEXAN AIRPLANES GOING BY

IT’S NO WONDER THEY HAVE TO WEAR EAR PROTECTION

LOOKING UP THE COAST WE COULD SEE THE TALL WIHITE PILLARD HOMES AT HORSESHOE BEACH WHERE WE HAD JUST COME FROM

With a quick stop at Hardees in Old Town we were back to the rig shortly after 1 o’clock.  Did I mention how nice it is that we are the only ones here now.  Today is the peaceful lull before the manic traffic storm tomorrow when we fight our way through the metal chaos to Sarasota.  We hear it’s really really bad!!

ON THE WAY BACK TO THE RIG WE STOPPED FOR A LOOK AROUND AT THE LUCKY CHARM RV PARK 2 MILES NORTH OF OLD TOWN

ALL PULL-THROUGH SITES WITH GENEROUS SPACING BETWEEN RVS

MID AFTERNOON TWO HORSES AND THREE GIRLS ROAD INTO CAMP

THEY DE-SADDLED THEIR HORSES THEN TOOK THEM TO THE RIVER FOR A DRINK AND A SPLASH

THE GIRLS ALL WENT FOR A SWIM IN THE SPRING THEN SADDLED UP THEIR HORSES AND HEADED OUT

THIS GAL CLIMBED UP ON THE PICNIC TABLE TO GET ON HER HORSE….SAY, YOU DON’T SUPPOSE HER DAD’S A PLUMBER DO YA

A few things I forgot to mention about our location here at Gornto County Park.  No dump station, 30 amp service only, good Verizon connection but no T-Mobile so we have no phone service.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The Reverend Francis Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf.  So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and convinced him to say Mass for him that day. As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away. This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish.  Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church!  At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?"  The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not." Just then Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole. It WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE! St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?"The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"

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A Few Business One-Liners::

- For every idiot proof system devised, a new, improved idiot will arise to overcome it.

- For every credibility gap there is a gullibility fill.

- For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.

- Fill what is empty; empty what is full; scratch where it itches.

- Familiarity breeds attempt.

- Far-away talent always seems better than home-developed talent.

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A Spanish patient goes to an English doctor.
Doctor: "What is it that's brought you here?"
Patient: "An ambulance. Why?"

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